


Umbrella

by thingswithwings



Category: Timeless (TV 2016)
Genre: Bisexual Character, Coming Out, F/M, Trans Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-30
Updated: 2018-07-30
Packaged: 2019-06-18 14:31:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 591
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15487929
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thingswithwings/pseuds/thingswithwings
Summary: Written for cantarina, who asked for "Rufus/Jiya, coming out to each other (identities up to you!)"





	Umbrella

**Author's Note:**

  * For [cantarina](https://archiveofourown.org/users/cantarina/gifts).



> I was having trouble getting back into writing, so I threw open prompts at my DW journal and wrote fast and hard. These fics are all quick and unbetaed, with very little research done, as I was just trying to get some practice in and get back in the writing mode. Apologies for any continuity errors etc. Thanks to everyone who prompted and encouraged me! And apologies to subscribers, who are now getting spammed as I repost them to AO3. 
> 
> Original prompt post here: https://thingswithwings.dreamwidth.org/226811.html

Jiya meets a Rockefellar or two, and she grumbles: "I coulda funded my hormones for a year with the shit these mediocre white dudes throw away"; Jiya watches the first brick go by at Stonewall, and she cheers, "Trans girls for the motherfucking win!"; Jiya takes a few personal combat lessons from Wyatt, and laughs her thanks for his patient explanations: "I never wanted to do this manly stuff when my dad tried to teach me." Rufus hasn't ever dated a trans person before, but he'd have to be obtuse not to know that he is now. Jiya has never shown any desire to be subtle, for reasons Rufus doesn't know but can probably guess at. She's strong and sweet and amazing, and for some reason _wants to be with him_ , and Rufus will, without hesitation, join her in an all-night hackathon to mess up anyone who's ever hurt her if she asks him to. She doesn't, though, so he just goes on falling fiercely in love with her in quieter ways, and bringing her coffee, and kissing her on her forehead. He falls in love with her, in no small part, for her ability to be so defiantly out, even when she doesn't need to be, in such a hostile world. She's braver than he is, though. He's known that forever.

It's a longer process for him to come out to her: first, because he's not sure how to do it without inadvertently saying something about her gender that he doesn't want to say, and second, because he's not like her, not out in the way he breathes and moves and inhabits the world. He's never been one to be able to say "my ex-boyfriend" in the same breath as "my ex-girlfriend" and let other people figure it out. Instead, he's usually refrained from saying anything at all. He remembers vividly all of his college crushes, how he'd held back from telling anyone about any of them, for fear they'd misinterpret him. Or maybe fear they'd interpret him correctly. He got in the habit, and now it's comfortable, a worn groove, something he doesn't discuss with anyone, even lovers. 

That's why it's so weird when he finally does say something: it's for no reason, with no big buildup, and the words pop out of his mouth as easily as their usual banter about video games or Doctor Who. 

"Agent Christopher's wife is so awesome," Jiya's saying, way too late one evening while they're alone in the control room, upgrading the Lifeboat. "I love Agent Christopher so much. I love that she's our badass lesbian boss. With her and me, we got the L and the T covered."

"Plus the B, cuz of me," Rufus puts in, squinting at the code in front of him and chewing on his lip. He realizes what he's said a second later and glances anxiously over at Jiya. Jiya smiles at him, then back down at her keyboard. Rufus lets out a little breath and smiles too.

"So whaddya think for the rest of them?" Jiya asks, after a whole minute has gone by with Rufus being out and nothing bad happening. "Wyatt could be secretly gay, he's got that southern military man who wears a lot of lip gloss thing going on."

Rufus laughs. "Maybe Lucy's ace," he puts in.

"And Flynn's queer," they both say together, and the sound of their shared laughter is a light against the lengthening shadows, a shield between them and the world, an umbrella to protect them both.


End file.
